Well, @ShawnRyan762, I know my comparing you to @maddow seems like a joke to some, but I can assure you that it is not.
As a former SEAL that has sat in briefing rooms in theater, run ops against jihadist networks, and built a platform interviewing many sharp people in both operations and intelligence, you of all people should understand how strategic warfare actually works.
Despite all of that, you are sitting here and pushing posts like a cable news commentator with rimmed glasses on a communist news network, framing decisive pressure against the world's leading state sponsor of militant jihadist terrorism as "chaos" and "loss."
Let's cut through this selective timeline you laid out:
Trump issued a brutal, unmistakable warning over the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint Iran's regime was weaponizing to strangle global energy and fund its proxies.
That wasn't just some bluster for fun, it was quite literally combatant messaging 101 in asymmetric conflict against an enemy that only respects raw and credible power.
Jihadist Islamists like the IRGC, Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, and their ilk don't negotiate in good faith or respond to polite diplomacy, and you absolutely know this.
They only respond to negotiations from positions of strength.
If you do not negotiate that way, they will probe weaknesses, exploit hesitation, and interpret restraint as invitations to push attacks.
History from the Beirut barracks to the USS Cole to Benghazi and to decades of proxy attacks has proven that.
You've had guests that have spoken about these things, yet you act ignorant of them now?
This apocalyptic rhetoric is the only language these people understand, and you know it.
Iran blinked because of that rhetoric, floated a ceasefire tied to reopening the strait, and the administration secured a pause to lock in gains. That is not "lighting the world on fire then calling the fire department," you two bit propagandist, that is literally the way war has always worked.
It is coercion through strength: downgrade the enemy's capacity, signal willingness to escalate decisively, then offer the off ramp on your terms.
It's wild that you are ignorant about this.
And then you cry about Israel hitting Beirut like the soft lefty you have turned into... Beirut is in Lebanon, mind you, which is a completely different country than Iran.
Perhaps you need a geography lesson as well as a lesson on strategic level warfare?
So yeah, that is not Trump chaos, that is Israel finishing the job against an Iranian proxy that has quite literally fired thousands of rockets and embedded itself among civilians in Lebanon for decades.
And Lebanon was explicitly carved out of the US and Iran ceasefire for a reason, so even bringing it up here is silly and meant to distract.
Also, Iran quickly "closed" the Strait back up because they are purveyors of taqiyya style negotiations, just like jihadists always are.
But let's talk about how they "closed" the Strait, because everyone is being dishonest about that as well.
They didn't actually close anything, they are just signaling that they will attack ships that cross through it.
All it takes is one drone or one missile hitting one tanker and 20% of the world's oil shipping halts until insurance companies feel confident that the crazy Islamic terrorist regime in Iran won't sink any more hundred million dollar tankers.
You also conveniently leave out the real reason for this war from the get go, which is curtailing China and China's Belt and Road Initiative and re-establishing the world order firmly behind the United States.
I miss the days just months ago when you weren't a fully captured op... seeing what you and guys like Kent have become is truly disheartening.
I hope the money is worth it.
This is the exact brand of pussyfooting that sunk thousands of American lives and trillions in treasure in past forever wars. All under the guise of “hearts and minds.”
Donald J. Trump Truth Social Post 04:37 PM EST 02.25.26
Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS. He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do. This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. We are hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us. As I said last night, “Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!” Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves. That process should soon be starting in that, not only the death of Khamenei but the Country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated. The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!
Pete Hegseth deserves an apology from all the bed-wetters who screamed he was unqualified. Turns out prioritizing lethality over dudes pretending to be women is actually good for the military.
Look regardless of what Auburn fans or everyone else thinks about the refs…
-OU was flagged for 99 yards…99.
-You won the TO battle & had TOP by 10 mins.
-You had a 17-16 lead in the 4th quarter w/ 7 mins left. Go win the game.
OU made the plays in the 4th. You didn’t.
@MR_PROPagiorgio Play calling is fine, our O line can’t pass pro. If you start having baker hold onto the ball and you’re going to end up with an injured baker/Sacks/picks.
I am aware of posts displaying contempt toward a fellow American who was assassinated. I want to be very clear: any uniformed or civilian employee of the Department of the Navy who acts in a manner that brings discredit upon the Department, the @USNavy or the @USMC will be dealt with swiftly and decisively.